1 Chronicles 5:16

And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 5:16. They dwelt in Gilead — That is, the children or tribe of Gad inhabited a part of Gilead, the Reubenites and Manassites dwelling in other parts of it, Deuteronomy 3:12. In Bashan — In the land of Bashan, as is said, 1 Chronicles 5:11. And in her towns — In some of her cities and towns. In all the suburbs of Sharon — Not that Sharon in Canaan, but that to the east of Jordan, namely, in the fields and pasture-grounds of it. Upon their borders — The borders of Gilead and Bashan. For Gilead, properly so called, or the greatest part of it, belonged to the Reubenites, and the greatest part of Bashan to the Manassites; and the Gadites, whose habitation was between these two tribes, had those parts of both these countries which lay toward their borders.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-26 Genealogies. - This chapter gives some account of the two tribes and a half seated on the east side of Jordan. They were made captives by the king of Assyria, because they had forsaken the Lord. Only two things are here recorded concerning these tribes. 1. They all shared in a victory. Happy is that people who live in harmony together, who assist each other against the common enemies of their souls, trusting in the Lord, and calling upon him. 2. They shared in captivity. They would have the best land, not considering that it lay most exposed. The desire of earthly objects draws to a distance from God's ordinances, and prepares men for destruction.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

From this passage and from the subsequent account of the Manassites 1 Chronicles 5:23-24, the Gadites extended themselves to the north at the expense of their brethren, gradually occupying a considerable portion of the tract originally allotted to the "half tribe."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. Sharon—The term "Sharon" was applied as descriptive of any place of extraordinary beauty and productiveness. There were three places in Palestine so called. This Sharon lay east of the Jordan.

upon their borders—that is, of Gilead and Bashan: Gilead proper, or at least the largest part, belonged to the Reubenites; and Bashan, the greatest portion of it, belonged to the Manassites. The Gadites occupied an intermediate settlement on the land which lay upon their borders.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They dwelt, i.e. the children or tribe of Gad.

In Gilead, i.e. in part of Gilead; for the Reubenites and Manassites dwelt in other parts of it, Deu 3:12,13,16.

In Bashan; in the land of Bashan, as it is said, 1 Chronicles 5:11.

Quest. How come the Gadites to dwell in Bashan, when all Bashan is expressly said to be given to the half tribe of Manasseh, Deu 3:13 Joshua 13:29,30?

Answ. All Bashan is put for the greatest part of it by a synecdoche, very frequent in Scripture and all authors; and so the Gadites might possess a part of it. And thus both Bashan and Gilead are used for parts of them, Joshua 17:1, where it is said of Machir a Manassite, that he had Gilead and Bashan. And as it is unquestionably true that Gilead is taken sometimes more largely for all the land of the Israelites beyond Jordan, sometimes more strictly for that part of it which borders upon Mount Gilead; of which See Poole "Joshua 17:1"; the like may be presumed concerning Bashan; and so in its strictest sense it might be all given to the Manassites, and yet in its largest sense might comprehend a part of the land belonging to the Gadites.

In her towns, i.e. in some of her cities and towns.

In all the suburbs, i.e. in its fields and pasture grounds, 1 Chronicles 27:29. Of Sharon; not that within Jordan, Isaiah 35:2, but another without Jordan.

Upon their borders, to wit, of Gilead and Bashan; for Gilead properly so called, or the greatest part of it, belonged to the Reubenites; and Bashan, or the greatest part of it, to the Manassites; and so the Gadites (whose habitation was between the Reubenites and Manassites) had those parts of both their countries which were towards their borders. Or,

unto their borders, i.e. as far as the suburbs or fields of Sharon, which were last mentioned, were extended.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they dwelt in Gilead,.... In that part of it which belonged to the tribe of Gad:

in Bashan, and in her towns; See Gill on 1 Chronicles 5:11,

and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders; there were two Sharons, one to the west of the land of Israel near the Mediterranean sea, which is mentioned in Acts 9:35 as near Lydda and Joppa; and the other to the east or northeast, beyond Jordan, which is here meant.

Geneva Study Bible

And they dwelt in Gilead in {f} Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.

(f) Both the whole country and one particular city were called Bashan.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. in Gilead in Bashan] Read, in Gilead, in Jabesh; cp. 1 Chronicles 10:11-12. The phrase in Gilead in Bashan yields no good sense, for Gilead means the southern, and Bashan the northern part of the territory of Israel east of Jordan.

suburbs] R.V. mg., pasture lands (as in 1 Chronicles 13:2).

Sharon] The well-known Sharon is to be identified with the maritime plain between Joppa and Caesarea. As however the text speaks here of the country E. of Jordan, some other Sharon at present unidentified, must be meant.

upon their borders] R.V. as far as their borders.

1 Chronicles 5:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The families descended from Buz "dwelt in Gilead," in the part of that district lying to the south of the Jabbok, which Moses had given to the Gadites and Reubenites (Deuteronomy 3:12); "In Bashan and her daughters," that is, in the villages belonging to the cities of Bashan and Gilead inhabited by them (for the suffix in בּבנותיה is to be referred distributively to both districts, or the cities in them). "And in all the pasture grounds (מגרשׁ, cf. on Numbers 35:2) of Sharon unto their outgoings." שׁרון, Sharon, lay not in Perea, but is a great plain on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Carmel to near Joppa, famed for its great fertility and its rich growth of flowers (Sol 2:1; Isaiah 33:9; Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 55:10). "A Caesarea Palaestinae usque ad oppidum Joppe omnis terra, quae cernitur, dicitur Saronas." Jerome in Onom.; cf. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 50, and Robins. Phys. Geog. S. 123. It is this plain which is here meant, and the supposition of the older commentators that there was a second Sharon in the east-Jordan land is without foundation, as Reland, Palestina illustr. p. 370f., has correctly remarked. For it is not said that the Gadites possessed cities in Sharon, but only pastures of Sharon are spoken of, which the Gadites may have sought out for their herds even on the coast of the Mediterranean; more especially as the domain of the cis-Jordanic half-tribe of Manasseh stretched into the plain of Sharon, and it is probable that at all times there was intercourse between the cis-and trans-Jordanic Manassites, in which the Gadites may also have taken part. תּוצאותם are the outgoings of the pastures to the sea, cf. Joshua 17:9.